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By Fr. Roy Cimagala *
THE story of the two disciples on their way to Emmaus (cfr. Lk 24,13-35) reminds us that God is always around. We should make this truth of faith a strong and constant conviction of ours, especially in moments and situations where we find ourselves in difficulties. We should never allow ourselves to sink in some discouragement and depression because God would always be around to help.
As the story goes, these two disciples were sad after witnessing the death of Christ on the cross. They thought he was the one who would save Israel from bondage. Without knowing it, Christ approached them and engaged them in some conversation that left them astonished with what they heard from him. Finally, they recognized him at the breaking of the bread when they invited him to take supper with them.
We just have to remember that God never abandons us and is, in fact, all ready and prompt to come to our aid, albeit in ways that we may not realize, at first, just like what happened in that story of the two disciples.
We should not allow our feelings of sadness to be so dominant and pervasive that we shut off God’s many and often mysterious ways of helping us. If we do not pose a deliberate impediment to God’s ways, there is always hope. In our darkest moments, some light will always come piercing and dispelling the darkness away.
In so many ways, God will remind us, as Christ did to the two disciples, about the meaning of all human suffering, and of how our suffering can be a way to our joy, to our fulfillment as a man and as a child of God. He will explain to us why we have suffering in this life and how we can take advantage of it to derive something good from it.
And like the two disciples, let us feel reassured by these truths of our faith. “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Lk 24,32) they said in amazement.
We should learn to trust in the loving and all-wise providence of God, and while we have to do our part, we should also realize that we are not meant to solve all our problems in life. We just have to abandon ourselves in God’s providence. He will be the one to resolve, complete and perfect everything.
“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” (Mt 6,26)
With these words, Christ clearly tells us to be trusting of God’s ever-wise and merciful Providence. He will provide everything that we need, especially the one that matters most to us. We may experience some privations, some losses, etc., but if we stick with God, we know that everything will always work out for the good. (cfr. Rom 8,28)
With all the things that we have to contend with in this life, we certainly need to have a healthy sense of trust in God’s loving and wise providence, abandoning ourselves in his will and ways that often are mysterious to us and can appear to be contrary to what we would like to have.
A healthy spirit of abandonment in God’s hands is necessary even as we exhaust all possible human means to achieve our goals or simply to tackle all the challenges, trials and predicaments of our life. We should never forget this truth of our faith.
